In Khashoggi murder case, Trump is torn between 2 tyrants

Turkish officials, who say they have audio recordings that document the slaying, dispute that latest version. The capture team included an autopsy expert who reportedly carried a bone saw and quickly moved to dismember the body. The audio, which the Turks have shared with the United States and other allies, also reportedly captures the hit team leader instructing a superior over the phone to “tell your boss” the mission was accomplished. U.S. intelligence experts believe the “boss” is almost certainly a reference to the crown prince, known as “MBS,” who exerts nearly complete control of Saudi security and intelligence agencies.

Late Friday, the Washington Post reported that the CIA had concluded with “high confidence” that the killing was personally ordered by MBS.

Erdogan has called Khashoggi’s death “a savage murder” that shocks “the human conscience.”

The irony of Erdogan standing up for the “human conscience” and journalistic protection is not lost on close observers, who note that under his increasingly autocratic rule, Turkey has become by far the most prolific jailer of journalists in the world. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Turkey presently keeps more journalists behind bars than China, Russia and Egypt combined. In the World Press Freedom Index, published by Reporters Without Borders, Turkey now ranks 157 among 180 nations. After a failed 2016 military coup against his rule, Erdogan has also arrested tens of thousands of perceived political opponents, stifling dissent and drawing the reins of power in Turkey increasingly into his iron fist.